How to teach 13 mo. old not to eat fingerpaint, playdoh,crayons...

[Jacksmom77]

I have posted before for suggestions on activities for my lo...all of the above were given & I was really excited to try them out - bought all the supplies, set them out...it turned into a freaking distaster I was ready for him to make a huge mess - and was actually excited about it - but all he did was try to eat them all...and I just ended up telling him no the whole time, which of course, made him VERY angry. I cant say as I blame him, since I brought out these things for him to play with - and pretty much said no to him whenever he touched it...how do I teach him how to play with these but not DIGEST them? Is this just an age thing?

Thanks!

[RyansMum]

I have to say my lo does that mainly with crayons!! We go to a messy play group once a week and as we have been going more and more he is putting things in his mouth less and less but I still think he will continue to bite on some things for a little while longer.  He isn't putting play doh in his mouth anymore and I do think its because we are using it more and more and he is more interested in playing with it.  I kinda let him have a little bite as its not going to hurt him and I am there to supervise.  I do take them out of his mouth but give him a little satisfaction in that he has had a go first!

Hth!

[Jacksmom77]

Thanks! I guess maybe I'll just let it go and not be so worried that he's going to overdose on crayons

[J&Jsmom]

My 14 month old does the same and it drives me nuts because I just want him and his older brother to be able to do the same things - otherwise I feel like I'm cutting myself in half. But if I give the little one paints or playdo or crayons, they just go straight in his mouth - and he eats them! If we play outside, he eats the leaves and the snails. I feel like I can't leave him alone for a minute. I even caught him eating leftover cereal out of the bin!! I promise I do feed the child, he's just obsessed with putting things in his mouth. If someone has a solution, I want to know about it

[Erin M]

My DD ate everything in sight for quite awhile.  Basically I'd try to be ready with some sort of finger food when she was playing with something with "eating potential" and every time I saw her putting the nonedible in her mouth I would try to shove a cheerio or something in there and say something like "We only eat food, leaves aren't food," or something to that effect.  I'd also make a big deal out of it if she handed me something she wasn't supposed to be eating when I could see it was on her way to her mouth.  (Of course now at 20 months I have a child that doesn't eat things she's not supposed to, but does obsessively pick dirt up off the floor and hand it to me LOL!)

[Mom2katiebug]

Brandi - Not sure if this will work, but Katie is also really into giving me things (even imaginary bits that she "holds").  I wonder if you ask Jack to give it to you if he would?

[Jacksmom77]

Thanks to everyone for all the good advice! Here's my plan of action

1 - ease up a bit...I guess if he eats just enough to eventually figure out it doesnt taste all that good - maybe he'll solve the problem for me!

2 - I like the "having other finger foods ready" ...

3 - he's actually gotten into handing me things if I say please (which is soooo cute) and he gets this really proud look on his face, so I'll try that!

Thanks again!